Company and contact information system and method

ABSTRACT

A user interface for providing information regarding a subject company to a user. The user interface may comprise a company tile, which may have an indicator of the subject company. A state of the company tile, such as, for example, its color, may indicate a property of the subject company. The user interface may also comprise a financial information module displaying financial information regarding the subject company, and a subject individual module displaying information regarding a subject individual related to the subject company. According to various embodiments, the user interface may also include a navigation toolbar including a second company tile comprising an indicator of a second company. Selecting the second company tile may cause the second company to become a new subject company.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/721,316, filed on Sep. 27, 2005; U.S. Provisional Application No.60/721,517, filed on Sep. 27, 2005; and U.S. Provisional Application No.60/724,322, filed on Oct. 6, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Professionals in the financial services industry must amalgamate largequantities of information from a variety of sources. For example, toeffectively serve a client company, an investment banker must beintimately familiar with the financials of the client company, thefinancials of the client company's competitors, market trends regardingthe client company and its competitors, news items regarding the clientcompany and its competitors, etc. In addition, the investment bankersand other financial professionals should be aware of their firm'scontacts with particular individuals within the client company,including contacts involving colleagues. This need may be especiallyacute when the financial professional receives a communication, such asa telephone call or e-mail from a client or other contact.

Currently, financial professionals must gather necessary information, ifat all, from various reports, newspapers, trade journals, televisionprograms, and even by word of mouth from colleagues. Accordingly, thereis a need for systems and methods for presenting company and contactinformation to financial professionals in an easily navigated formatallowing the financial professional to quickly and efficiently accessnecessary information.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directedto a user interface for providing information regarding a subjectcompany to a user. The user interface may comprise a company tile, whichmay have an indicator of the subject company. A state of the companytile, such as, for example, its color, may indicate a property of thesubject company. The user interface may also comprise a financialinformation module displaying financial information regarding thesubject company, and a subject individual module displaying informationregarding a subject individual related to the subject company. Accordingto various embodiments, the user interface may also include a navigationtoolbar including a second company tile comprising an indicator of asecond company. Selecting the second company tile may cause the secondcompany to become a new subject company.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described below by way ofexample in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:

FIGS. 1-7 are screen shots illustrating a user interface according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a system according to variousembodiments;

FIGS. 9-10 show flow charts illustrating process flows according tovarious embodiments;

FIGS. 11A-11G are screen shots illustrating various user interfacesaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart illustrating a process flow according tovarious embodiments;

FIGS. 13A-13B are screen shots illustrating various user interfacesaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 14 shows a chart illustrating a work flow according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 15 shows a flow chart illustrating a process flow according tovarious embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As used herein the term “user” shall refer to any individual utilizing auser interface. Non-limiting examples of users may include investmentbankers, other financial services professionals, administrativeassistants of investment bankers and other financial servicesprofessionals, etc.

FIG. 1 shows a screen shot of a user interface 100 that may be served toa user according to various embodiments of the present invention. Theinterface 100 may provide the user with information regarding aparticular individual related to a client company as well as the clientcompany itself. In various embodiments, the client company andindividual may be selected by the user. Also, in various embodiments,the client company and individual may be selected automatically, forexample, in response to a phone call, e-mail, instant message, etc. fromthe individual or other person at the client company. The interface 100may also allow the user to navigate between modules directed todifferent information about the individual, different individuals andeven different companies. The user may access the interface 100, forexample, by launching an application on his or her computer.

The user interface 100 is shown divided into a series of modules witheach module providing information and/or navigational tools to the user.For example, module 102, located in the upper left of interface 100,includes a company tile 103. The company tile 103 may include anindicator of a company. The indicator may be, for example, the company'sname, an abbreviation of the company's name, a ticker symbol for thecompany, etc. In various embodiments, the company indicated at companytile 103 may be a subject company, with the other modules included inthe interface 100 conveying information about the subject company and/orindividuals or companies related to the subject company.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the color of the company tile 103 mayconvey information regarding the subject company including, for example,a change in the company's stock price. In various embodiments, the tile103 may include a first predetermined color, such as, for example,green, if the company's stock price has risen since the most recentopening of the relevant market. The tile 103 may include a secondpredetermined color, such as, for example, red, if the company's stockprice has fallen since the most recent opening of the relevant market.It will be appreciated that different color shades may be used toindicate different degrees of rise or fall in the subject company'sstock price. It will also be appreciated that the tile 103 may, invarious embodiments, convey other information about the subject company.For example the tile 103 may be configured to blink and/or display apredetermined color in the event of breaking news regarding the companyincluding, for example, an earnings report, a new research report, a newnews story relevant to the subject company, etc.

Title module 108 may show additional information about the subjectcompany including, for example, a name, ticker symbol, former names,former ticker symbols, etc. At field 110, title module 108 may show abrief summary of the subject company's stock price. For example, field110 may show whether the price has risen or fallen since the most recentopening of the relevant market, the stock's most recent opening price,the change in the stock's price since the most recent opening, thepercentage change since the most recent opening, etc.

Module 112 may include financial information regarding the subjectcompany and related companies. The related companies may includecompetitors of the subject company, subsidiaries of the subject company,strategic partners of the subject company, etc. Related companies may bepredetermined based on the subject company, or in one non-limitingembodiment, may be chosen by the user. In FIG. 1, module 112 shows ashare price, a market capitalization, a price-earnings ratio (P/E), anearnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA),a net income, and an indicator for the subject company and each relatedcompany. It will be appreciated, however, that any financial informationabout the various companies may be included in module 112. The financialinformation about the related companies included in module 112 may beobtained from any of a number of sources. For example, in variousnon-limiting embodiments, the financial information may be obtained froman outside vendor such as, for example, THOMSON.

Module 114 may list recent research reports issued regarding the subjectcompany and or related companies. Various details of the researchreports may be listed, including, for example, a date, a title and alength of each. In one non-limiting embodiment, the user may be able toaccess a particular research report by selecting the listing of thereport in module 114. FIG. 6 shows the module 114 according to anothernon-limiting embodiment where an author and collection for each researchreport are also provided. Research reports listed in module 114 may beprovided by various sources including, for example, THOMSON.

Referring back to FIG. 1, module 116 may include indicators of newsstories related to the subject company and/or related companies. Theindicators of the news stories may be the headlines of the stories. Inone non-limiting embodiment, multiple stories may be organized andlisted by category. The number of news stories under each category mayalso be listed. Selecting an indicator of a news story, for example, bymoving a cursor over the indicator and clicking, may allow the user toaccess the story. FIGS. 4 and 5 show the module 116 according tonon-limiting embodiments where the originating news service for eachstory is also listed.

Module 104 is shown in FIG. 1 to display information about a subjectindividual related to the subject company. For example, the subjectindividual may be an employee of the subject company, an analyst whofrequently writes research reports regarding the subject company, etc.Module 104 includes the subject individual's name, title, and contactinformation, but may include other information about the subjectindividual in addition to or instead of the information shown in FIG. 1.In various embodiments, the individuals name, title, contactinformation, etc., may be provided by a CRM database, such as CRMdatabase 514 described below.

Module 104 may also include navigational buttons, such as 138, 140, 142,144. Selecting navigation button 140 may cause the module 104 to enter agraph configuration, showing a graph or graphs of financial informationregarding the company, for example, as shown in FIG. 2. The graph orgraphs may show any financial variable relevant to the subject companyincluding, for example, stock price, trading volume, etc., over anydesired time period. The graph or graphs may also be configuredaccording to any suitable setup. For example, FIGS. 2 shows the module104 including a graph of absolute stock price and FIG. 5 shows themodule 104 including a graph of relative stock price. In onenon-limiting embodiment, the financial variables shown by the graph maybe selected by the user.

Selecting telephone navigation button 142 may cause the module 104 toshow a history of telephone calls to or from the subject individual overa predetermined timeframe. Telephone calls involving the user may beshown, as well as telephone calls involving the user's colleagues, e.g.,fellow employees of the firm, etc. A meeting navigation button 144 mayallow the user to see a history of face to face meetings with thesubject individual over a predetermined time period, including meetingsinvolving the user and meetings involving the user's colleagues. Acontact information button 138, when selected, may cause the module 104to return to the view shown in FIG. 1. It will be appreciated thatmodule 104 may include various other configurations in addition to, orinstead of those shown here.

An events calendar module 110, also shown in FIG. 1, may includerepresentations of upcoming events involving the subject company and/orthe subject individual, including events with the user as well as eventswith the user's colleagues and/or the entire firm. As shown in FIG. 1,the module 110 may form a grid indicating various dates. The grid may beconfigured according to any suitable style. For example, FIG. 1 shows agrid including three months. FIG. 2 shows the module 110 with a gridincluding a traditional one-month view. In various embodiments, themodule 110 may include a listing of events rather than a grid, forexample, as shown in FIGS. 4-5.

Icons 146 may be located on the grid at the various dates and/or on thelist and may represent scheduled events. Non-limiting examples of eventsrepresented by icons 146 include, earnings events relating to thesubject company or related companies, firm-wide meetings with thesubject individual or company, smaller conferences with the subjectindividual or company, industry conferences, non-earnings related callsor events (e.g., merger and acquisition calls), shareholder meetings ofthe subject company and/or related companies, the release of majorreports by the subject company and/or related companies, etc. In variousembodiments, icons 146 may also represent scheduled e-mail messages,internal meetings within the firm regarding the subject company, andfirm-sponsored events to be attended by the client. In one non-limitingembodiment, the field 110 may include only events in the future,however, it will be appreciated that past events may be shown as well.

According to various embodiments, the user may change the subjectindividual reflected in module 104 and/or module 110 at module 106. Themodule 106 may include the names of various individuals related to thesubject company. For example, the module 106 may list executives of thecompany, officers of the company, other employees of the company, etc.In one non-limiting embodiment non-employees of the company may also belisted in module 106 including, for example, analysts who frequentlyissue reports on the company or other individuals that the user maycontact regarding the subject company.

The user may be able to customize the names shown at module 106, forexample, by selecting the Show All Contacts button 120. Selecting button120 may cause the interface 100 to display an All Company Contactsmodule 148. The All Company Contacts module 148 may include the namesand contact information, for example, of all individuals related to thesubject company that are known to the firm. The user may add a contactfrom the All Company Contacts module 148 to the module 106, for example,by clicking and dragging the contact from module 148 to module 106.Similarly, the user may remove a contact from module 106, for example,by clicking and dragging the contact from module 106.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the interface 100 may include a relatedcompany navigation module 109. The module 109 may include relatedcompany tiles 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, similar to the subjectcompany tile 103 described in module 102 above. Each related companytile 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132 may include an indicator of a relatedcompany. The related companies having company tiles included in module109 may be predetermined, or may be selected and/or modified by theuser. It will be appreciated that various information about the relatedcompanies may be indicated by the company tiles 122, 124, 126, 128, 130,132. For example, the color and/or state of the tiles may indicate thedirection that the related company's stock price has moved since themost recent opening of the relevant market, as described above withrespect to tile 103. The user may reconfigure the interface 100 to causeone of the related companies indicated by company tiles 122, 124, 126,128, 130, 132 to become a new subject company by selecting one of thetiles. For example, the various modules 102, 104, 106, 108, 109, 110,112, 114, 116, etc. may be repopulated with new information based on thenew subject company.

A history tool bar 118 may include company tiles 134, 136 includingindicators of recent subject companies of the interface 100. The tiles134, 136 may be similar to the tile 103 described above. For example,various information about the recent subject companies may be indicatedby the color and/or state of the tiles 134, 136. The user may cause oneof the recent subject companies to become a new subject company byselecting its corresponding tile 134, 136. This may cause the variousmodules 102, 104, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112, 114, 116, etc., to berepopulated with new information based on the new subject company.

Various embodiments of the user interface 100 may include an analystrating module 150, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4-6. The analystrating module 150 may indicate a rating given to the subject company.For example, the subject company may receive a “sell” rating if itsoutlook is poor and a “buy” rating if its outlook is positive. Therating may be indicated in module 150 textually or graphically. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, a continuum of ratings is indicated by agrid, with an arrow indicating the subject company's location on thecontinuum.

FIGS. 4 and 6 also show a deal track module 152 according to variousembodiments. The deal track module 152 may include information aboutparticular sales, purchases or offerings that the subject company isconsidering. For example, the deal track module 152 may list informationabout financial products that the user's firm is currently preparing.Information about the financial product may include, the phase of theproject, the client name, a description of the deal or project name, thesize of the project, the expected revision date of the project, the feeto the firm for the project, the probability of the deal beingcompleted, the probability that the firm will land the deal, the amountof current activity on the deal, etc. The types of products or projectslisted at the deal track module 152 may include, for example, debt orequity offerings, mergers and acquisitions, tax products, certificatesof deposit, real estate purchases, etc. In various embodiments, the dealtrack module 152 may support searching. For example, a user may entercriteria describing a deal. A deal or deals, if any, that match thecriteria may be found and displayed at deal track module 152.

In various embodiments, the interface 100 may include an estimateforecast module 154, for example, as shown in FIG. 4. The estimateforecast module may show estimated parameters describing the subjectcompany over one year or a multi-year period. For example, the module154 shown in FIG. 4 shows earnings estimates for the subject companyover a four year period. The estimate revisions module 156 may showchanges in estimates regarding the subject company. For example, themodule 156 shown in FIG. 4 indicates that of three total estimates, twohave risen while one has fallen. Also, the current and a previousestimate are shown.

FIGS. 4-6 also show a relationship module 158, according to variousembodiments. The relationship module 158, which may also be referred toas a six degrees module, may graphically represent relationships betweenindividuals. Information representing the relationships may be obtained,for example, from a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database. Theindividuals listed in the relationship module 158 may include, forexample, officers, employees, analysts of, and others associated withthe subject company, as well as colleagues of the user within the user'sfirm or other organization.

FIGS. 4-6 also show a shortcuts module 160, according to variousembodiments. The shortcuts module 160 may include a series of buttons163, 168, 170, 172, 174 and 176. Each of the buttons may correspond to aparticular item such as a module, application, web-site, etc. Selectingone of the buttons 163, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172, 174 and 176 causes itscorresponding item to launch either within a module of the userinterface 100 or in a full-screen mode. It will be appreciated that somebuttons, such as, for example, 163, 168, 170, 172, and 174 maycorrespond to third party vendor products such as, for example, BOARDEX,SHARK REPELLENT, MERGER MARKET, FADIVA, THOMSON and MICROSOFT OUTLOOK.Other buttons, such as 164 and 166, may correspond to a module. Forexample, selecting button 164 may launch a screen allowing the user toenter and/or view raw data used to generate the relationship module 158.Selecting button 166 may launch the relationship module 158. In variousembodiments, if the relationship module 158 is not present in the userinterface 100, selecting the button 166 may cause it to appear withinthe interface 100 either as a replacement for a previously displayedmodule or as an additional module. If the relationship module 158 isalready present in the user interface 100, selecting the button 166 maycause the relationship module 158 to appear in a full-screen mode.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the user interface 100 configured to include a keyexecutives module 162. The key executives module 162 may list a numberof the executives of the subject company. For example, embodiments ofthe key executives module 162 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 list the chairman,chief executive, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, andvice president & treasurer of the subject company. Selecting a positionor individual from the module 162 may cause that individual to becomethe subject individual displayed at the module 104. It will beappreciated that different companies are organized in different wayswith different officers and executives, and therefore the number andtitles of individuals listed at module 162 may vary by subject company.

It will be appreciated that the various modules 102, 103, 104, 106, 108,etc. may be arranged within the user interface 100 according to variouslayouts. For example, FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 each show a differentlayout of modules within the interface 100. Also, not every module willappear in every layout of the interface 100. For example, therelationship module 158 is not shown in FIGS. 1, 2 or 3. In variousembodiments, the user may save a particular layout or arrangement ofmodules within the interface 100, for example, by selecting the savelayout button 119 shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 shows an additional user interface 200 that may interact with theuser interface 100 according to various embodiments. The user interface200 may be implemented as a stand-alone interface, shown in FIG. 7, orin various embodiments, may be implemented as a module or othercomponent of the interface 100. The user interface 200 may include atoolbar 202. The toolbar 202 may be configured to remain on the user'sdesktop, for example, while the user is utilizing other applications.The toolbar 202 may include company tiles 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214including indicators of book-marked companies, or companies that theuser may deal with frequently. The book-marked companies may initiallybe predetermined, for example, based to the user's normal work. Invarious embodiments, the user may be able to add or remove book-markedcompany tiles to the toolbar 202. When the user selects one of the tiles204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, interface 100 may launch as describedabove with the company indicated by the selected tile as the subjectcompany. If the interface 100 is already running when one of the tiles204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214 is selected, then the company correspondingto the selected tile may become a new subject company of the interface100.

In various embodiments, the toolbar 202 may also include a new companyfield 216. The user may select text indicating a company, such as acompany name or ticker symbol, from any application and drop it into thenew company field 216. The text, for example, may be selected from anykind of document or program including, for example, a web page viewedthrough a web-browser, a word processing document, a PDF document, etc.Dropping the text into field 216 may trigger a text search identifyingthe new company. A company tile (not shown) indicating the new companymay then be added to the toolbar 202. In one non-limiting embodiment,dropping the text anywhere in the toolbar 202 may trigger the textsearch identifying the new company and add a new company tile.

Various embodiments of the user interface 100 may provide alerts to theuser. The alerts, for example, may make the user aware of currenthappenings and/or tasks that need to be completed. Alerts may bepresented to the user as a pop-up screen or toast that may appear infront of any other applications present on the user's screen. Also, invarious embodiments, alerts may appear in or replace a module or otherpart of an existing interface, (e.g., interface 100). In variousembodiments, an alert may also include buttons or other options thatallow the user to address the alert.

For example, various embodiments may include a lonely or unattendedclient alert. The lonely client alert may be implemented in conjunctionwith a customer relationship management (CRM) application and/ordatabase. A lonely client alert may be generated and presented to a userwhen the CRM detects that there has been no contact with a particularclient for a given amount of time. In various embodiments, the givenamount of time may vary by client. For example, lonely client alerts maybe generated for different clients after different periods of nocontact. In various embodiments, there may be a continuum of clients,with each tier of the continuum corresponding to an allowable no-contacttime before a lonely client alert is generated. For example, clients ata first tier may have a lonely client alert generated after 2-3 weeks ofno contact, clients at a second tier after 4-5 weeks, and so on. Invarious embodiments, the interface presenting the alert may includefeatures that allow the user to contact a client that is the subject ofa lonely client alert.

Various embodiments may also include a market alert. A market alert maybe generated when the market reaches a predetermined set of marketconditions. The market conditions may describe the market as a whole, oran individual company. In this way, a user may track the market as awhole, individual client companies, and/or other companies of interest(e.g., competitors of clients, market leaders, etc.). In variousembodiments, the predetermined set of conditions may be chosen by auser, or may be generic to multiple users. For example, the interface100 may include a set of canned market alert criteria common to allusers. Individual users, however, may be able to modify and/orsupplement the canned market alert criteria. Example market alertcriteria include: a change in a company's Standard & Poor's (S&P)rating, a change in a company's Moody's rating, a given change (e.g.,5%) in the implied volatility of a companies stock, the company's shareprice meets certain criteria (e.g., within 5% of its 12 month high orlow), the company has debt that is near maturity (e.g., $100 million ormore that matures within 12 months), etc.

A client event alert, according to various embodiments, may be generatedwhen an event with a given client is upcoming. Example events mayinclude meetings, conferences, telephone calls, e-mails, etc. The alertmay be generated at various intervals before the event (e.g., a week, aday, an hour, etc.). A board/management change alert may be generatedwhen a change at a company of interest results in a change in itscontrol group (e.g., board of directors, managers, etc.). The companiesof interest may be client companies, competitors of client companies,market leaders, etc. In various embodiments, the companies of interestmay be predetermined and/or selected by a user.

News alerts may be generated when a new news story is received, forexample, the news stories that populate field 116 described above. Invarious embodiments, when new news stories are received, they areaggregated and de-duplicated. For example, more than one news storycovering the same news event or development may be received. News alertsmay be configured so that only one news alert is generated per newsevent, or development. A representative news story may then be presentedto a user as a link. In various embodiments, multiple representativenews stories may be presented, allowing the user to choose a story toview.

FIG. 8 shows a system 500 for implementing the user interfaces 100, 200according to various embodiments. The system 500 may include a wired orwireless network 502 that may be a LAN, WAN or any other suitablecommunications network. The network 502 may facilitate communicationbetween the various other components of the system 500 including, forexample, one or more user systems 504. The user systems 504 may be anykind of computer or other device capable of providing user interfaces,such as interfaces 100 and 200. In various embodiments, the user systems504 may include one or more of a telephone 505, a computer 507, apersonal digital assistant (not shown), a cell phone (not shown), etc.

The system 500 may also include one or more servers 506. Servers 506 mayexecute applications implementing the systems and methods describedherein. For example, server 506 may serve the user interface 100described above to one or more user systems 504. The servers 506 mayalso provide other user interfaces to users displaying informationrelated to a communication, for example, those described herein below.In various embodiments, the servers 506 may monitor data and generatealerts, where appropriate, maintain and query databases 508, 510, 512,514, populate interfaces, etc.

Databases 508, 510, 512, 514 may store various information served to theuser according to various embodiments. The information may be generatedin-house, or, in various embodiments, may be provided by an outsidevendor 516. Also, in various embodiments, all or a portion of one ormore of the databases 508, 510, 512, 514 may be external to a firmimplementing the system 500 and may be accessed via network 502. It willbe appreciated that any of the databases 508, 510, 512, 514 may beimplemented as one unitary database or as any number of separateindividual databases.

Each of the databases 508, 510, 512, 514 may include informationprovided to the user through interfaces 100, 200. For example, ResearchDatabase 508 may include various research reports on potential subjectcompanies that may be displayed to the user, for example, by module 114,and/or monitored and presented in various alerts. News Database 510 mayinclude various news stories regarding potential subject companies thatmay be displayed to the user, for example, by module 116 and/ormonitored and presented in various alerts. Financial Database 512 mayinclude various financial data regarding potential subject companiesthat may be displayed to the user, for example, by modules 102, 104,106, 108, etc., and/or monitored and presented in various alerts. ACustomer Relationship Management (CRM) database 514 may include contactinformation for various potential subject individuals as well asinformation regarding recent and future scheduled contacts with theindividuals, for example, shown to the user through module 104, and/ormonitored and presented in various alerts. The various databases 508,510, 512, 514 may be populated by information internal to a firm, or byone or more outside vendors 516.

In various embodiments, the system 500 may also include components forhandling communication events. For example, communications to or from acomputer 507 or other network-enabled component of the user systems 504may be transported via the network 502. One or more of the servers 506may intercept incoming network communications and take appropriateaction (e.g., direct the communication to the appropriate user system504, generate alerts, etc.). Also, in various embodiments, the system500 may interface with a public switch telephone network (PSTN) 522through a private branch exchange (PBX) 520. In this way, the system 500may be able to view and/or manipulate incoming telephone calls. The PSTN522 may be connected to the PBX 520 via one or more trunk linesrepresented by line 523. The PBX 520 may route incoming calls receivedfrom the PSTN 522 to the appropriate user subsystem 504, for example, atelephone 505 at the appropriate user subsystem 504. The PBX 520 may beany kind of suitable PBX, for example, any PBX available from AVAYA. Acomputer telephone interface (CTI) 518 may connect the PBX 520 to thenetwork 502. This may allow other components on the network including,for example, the server 506 and computers 507, to manipulate incomingand outgoing calls and take suitable actions. For example, a user may beable to pick up a call, transfer a call, dial a call, etc., based oninputs to his or her computer 507. The CTI 518 may include any suitablecombination of hardware and software.

In various embodiments, the system 500 may also be used to handlecommunications with or from the user, for example, as described below.Example communications may include telephone calls, e-mails, instantmessages, etc. It will be appreciated that the communication handlingmay be implemented in addition to or in conjunction with the variousinterfaces and alerts described above.

FIG. 9 shows a process flow 900, according to various embodiments, forhandling a communication to a user. At step 902, a communication eventoccurs. Examples of communication events include, without limitation:calendar reminder events (e.g., such as pop-up reminder screens providedby MICROSOFT OUTLOOK or LOTUS NOTES APIs); incoming and outgoingtelephone calls (e.g., as provided by AVAYA computer telephony libraries(DLLs) for use with telephony systems); incoming and outgoing instantmessaging events (e.g., as may be provided by the MORGAN STANLEYproprietary “JAM” instant messaging client, or by a MICROSOFT WINDOWSMESSENGER application); and/or by incoming or outgoing videoconferencing events (e.g., as provided by use of APIs provided in theECONF video conferencing client or by the MICROSOFT WINDOWS MESSENGERapplication).

At step 904, the communication event may be detected and captured.Various components of the system 500 (e.g., servers 506, user systems504, etc.) may be configured to use various methods to detectcommunication events. For example, when a communication event istriggered by an e-mail, various application programming interfaces(“APIs”) of a particular e-mail application associated with the e-mailmay detect and notify appropriate programs about communication eventsarising from operation of the e-mail application. When an e-mail arrivesin a MICROSOFT OUTLOOK e-mail application, the communication event cannotify appropriate system 500 components through the use of APIsassociated with the e-mail application, that a change representing acommunication event (e.g., arrival of an e-mail) has just occurred. Whenthe communication event is a telephone call, the telephone call may bedetected through the switch 520 and CTI 518. For example, when atelephone call is received, the switch 520 may be configured torecognize the incoming telephone call as a communication event. As partof the detection and capture process at step 904, the CTI 518 may notifythe appropriate server 506 that the telephone is ringing and communicatecaller identification data, for example, to one or more components ofthe user system 504 associated with the called party.

At step 906, the system 500 may use the communication event datacaptured at step 904 to perform one or more additional functions inaccordance with the communication event data. For example, the system500 may use the communication event data to query various systemcomponents, such as databases 508, 510, 512, 514 to retrieve informationassociated with the communication event data. For example, if thecommunication event data includes a caller identification for atelephone number, then the system 500 may search the CRM database 514for a client name associated with the caller identification information.Also, in various embodiments, the system 500 may populate an interface,such as interface 100, with information relating to the communication.For example, the interface 100 may be generated or re-generated with theother party to the communication as the subject individual and the otherparty's company as the subject company.

At step 908, the system 500 may present the results of the functionperformed in step 906, for example, by presenting a consolidatedportal-like screen display of information collected during a searchperformed in the CRM database 514. In various embodiments, the displaymay be a version of the user interface 100 described above, or one ofvarious other user interfaces, for example, as described herein. Invarious embodiments, the information provided at step 908 may bepresented in the form of a pop-up window that automatically disappearsafter a few seconds, for example, or in the form of a side-bar windowthat appears on a screen display of the currently active applicationemployed by the user.

In various embodiments, the presentation of the results at step 908 maybe personalized for the particular user viewing the information and/ormay be customizable by the user, perhaps based on the channel ofcommunication in which the communication event was generated. Forexample, with respect to an instant message communication event, theuser may want to view a smaller subset of client information incomparison to a larger subset of information for a client telephonecall, because the user may not have convenient access to use a computersystem during a telephone call. Also, the presentation of results can bedriven by the particular working style preferences of the user. It canbe appreciated, therefore, that the appearance of information pushfunctions employed by the system 500 in presenting results at step 908may be configurable by the user. In addition, the user may configure howthe information push is invoked for a given communication event. Forinstance, it may be a distraction for certain users to receive pop-upwindows for all telephone calls, when most of their work is performedwith e-mail and not by using the telephone. Also, the user may want totemporarily suspend display of results for certain communicationchannels.

It can be seen that various embodiments can provide a targeted push ofrelevant information to an end user when certain communication eventsoccur. The information displayed may include data drawn from one or moreof the databases 514, 512, 510, 508, etc. The content and/or format ofinformation displayed to the end user may depend on one or more factors,including but not limited to, for example: who is in the conversation(internal party and external party); whether the external party is aknown contact within the CRM database 514; the kind of communicationevent (e.g., incoming phone call versus calendar reminder popup); theuser's role and location (e.g., sales traders at an investment bank maycare about a different set of data than bankers, or different sets ofregulations may apply to user in different roles and job functions);and/or, the user's previous reaction to information contained in theinformation push (e.g., a mechanism or user interface can be provided bythe system 500 in the information push that allows the user to change orcustomize the display of a subsequent information push).

In various embodiments, the system 500 may be configured toautomatically execute one or more searches, or initiate retrieval ofinformation, upon occurrence of specific communication events orcombinations of communication events. The system 500 may identify andcollect characteristics about the party communicating with the firm(e.g., a telephone number in the event of a phone call, an instantmessaging address in the event of an instant messaging conversation, aH323/SIP/DID address in the event of a video conferencing call, or ane-mail address in the event of a calendar reminder). Thesecharacteristics may serve as inputs to the automated searches orinformation retrieval processes that can be performed at step 906. Thesearches may uncover, for example, upcoming meetings with the party, ahistory of recent e-mails exchanged by the user with the party, and/or,a history of e-mails sent by the party to which the user has not yetreplied, etc.

In various embodiments, the system 500 may use local desktop searchtools as a way to distribute the burden of automated informationretrieval. This allows efficient use of the computing resources of thesystem 500, because searches can be executed locally as opposed tohaving multiple desktop computer systems querying a central informationservice every time a communication event is received. For example, eachuser system 504 may include, or have access to, all or a portion of theinformation present at databases 514, 512, 510, 508. Accordingly, eachuser system 504 may be able to individual perform a query when acommunication event directed to that subsystem 910 is received. Also,embodiments of the system 500 may make beneficial use of communicationevent data to perform programmatic invocation of search technology,including desktop search technology, as a way to retrieve and presentrelevant customer information to users.

FIG. 10 shows a process flow 1000, according to various embodiments, forhandling an incoming phone call to a user. Although the communicationevent referred to in the process flow 1000 is a telephone call, it willbe appreciated that the same or similar steps may be performed for othercommunication events, (e.g., e-mails, instant messages, etc.) FIGS. 11A,11B, 11C, 11D, 11E, 11F and 11G show screen shots from a user interface1100 that may be served to a user to implement the process flow 1000according to various embodiments. It will be appreciated that the userinterface 1100 may be served as the stand alone windows shown in FIGS.11A-11G. Also, in various embodiments, the user interface 1100 may beserved as one or more modules of the interface 100 described above.Referring back to FIG. 10, at step 1002, caller information may bepresented to the user. In one non-limiting embodiment, the callerinformation may be presented in the form of a screen pop or toast.

FIG. 11A shows a screen shot of a window 1100 that may present callerinformation to the user according to various embodiments. The window1100 may provide information about the caller and the call itself.Information about the call itself may be shown at fields 1102, 1104 and1106. For example, the status of the call (e.g., active, terminated,etc.) may be shown at field 1102. Also, the number from which the calloriginated may be shown at field 1104. The duration of the call may beshown at field 1106. Information about the caller may be shown at fields1108, 1110, 1112, 1114. For example, field 1108 may list the name of thecaller, with the caller's company and position listed at field 1110 andtelephone number or other contact information listed at field 1112. Apicture of the caller, if available, may be shown at field 1114.

In various embodiments, the window 1100 may also include buttons 1180,1182, 1184, 1186 for controlling the call. For example, selecting abutton 1180 may allow the user to transfer the call to anotherextension. Selecting button 1182 may allow the user to add other usersto the call to form a conference call. Selecting button 1184 may allowthe user to drop the call. Selecting button 1186 may allow the user totransfer the call to voicemail. Also, button 1120, may allow the user toprepare and send an e-mail to the caller. For example, selecting button1120 may link the user to an e-mail program including, for example,MICROSOFT OUTLOOK, a web-based e-mail account, etc.

Additional details about the caller may be provided at field 1116, showncollapsed in FIG. 11A. It will be appreciated that field 1116 may begiven any suitable title including, for example, “Details” as shown inFIG. 11A, or “Interactions & Company Info” as shown in FIG. 11C.Selecting field 1116 may cause it to expand, as shown in FIG. 11B. Whenexpanded, field 1116 may provide additional details regarding the callerand the caller's company, for example, in Upcoming Meetings field 1126,Recent Interactions field 1130 and Company Information field 1134. TheUpcoming Meetings field 1126 may list future scheduled interactionsbetween the caller and various individuals within the firm. The RecentInteractions field 1130 may list past interactions between the callerand individuals at the firm. The fields 1126 and 1130 may list the typeof interaction, the individual at the firm with whom the interaction isscheduled, the date of the interaction, and any other pertinentinformation. Also, it will be appreciated that the caller's scheduledinteractions with the user, as well as with other individuals within thefirm, may be shown at fields 1126 and 1130. Any type of interactionbetween the caller and the firm may be listed at fields 1126, 1130including, for example, telephone calls, face-to-face meetings, e-mails,etc. The user may select button 1128 to view a more comprehensive listof interactions, past and future, with the caller, for example,including more interactions.

The Company Information field 1134 may provide the user with informationregarding the caller's company. For example, the company's current stockprice, change on the day, and percentage change on the day may belisted. Field 1134 also shows links to various news articles describingthe company. It will be appreciated that any information regarding thecompany may be listed at field 1134 including, for example, earnings,stock price trends, etc.

Referring back to FIG. 10, at block 1004, the user may optionally enternotes regarding the call at field 1119. Window 1100 in FIG. 11B showsfield 1119 expanded to include a subject field 1136 and a body field1138. The user may select the fields 1136 and 1138 and type or otherwiserecord notes regarding the conversation. At decision block 1006, theuser may choose to log the call by selecting field 1122. FIG. 11C showsthe window 1100 with a cursor 1138 positioned above a Log to CRM field1122. Selecting the Log to CRM field 1122 may cause information aboutthe call, including any notes recorded at block 1004, to be recorded,for example, to the CRM database 514 at block 1008. FIG. 11C showswindow 1100 with fields 1116 and 1119 minimized, however, it will beappreciated that the Log to CRM field 1122 may also be selected when oneor both of fields 1116 and 1119 are expanded, as shown in FIG. 11B. FIG.11D shows the window 1100 with field 1122 indicating that a loggingprocedure is in progress. FIG. 11E shows the window 1100 after the callhas been logged. Field 1140 may display a log date stamp indicating tothe user that the call has been logged and showing a date and time whenthe call was logged.

Referring back to FIG. 10, at block 1010, the user may performadditional operations. For example, referring to FIG. 11B, the user maychange the selected caller by activating field 1118. It may be desirableto change the selected caller in situations where the listed caller isnot the person to whom the user is speaking. This may occur if thecaller was misidentified or is calling from a different line than usual.The user may also e-mail the caller by selecting box 1122. In window1105, shown in FIG. 11F, the cursor 1138 is shown over an Actions field1142, displaying an additional field 1144 that provides the user withinformation and a list of other available actions. For example, field1146 displays information regarding the user. Selecting field 1148 maysend an e-mail to the user. Selecting field 1150 may allow the user toselect an instant message. The instant message may be prepared and sentaccording to any known program or protocol including, for example,MICROSOFT MESSENGER, AOL INSTANT MESSENGER, YAHOO MESSENGER, etc. Field1154 may allow the user to add or coordinate contact information aboutthe caller with a computerized address book. For example, the user mayadd the caller to the address book, update an existing entry for thecaller in the address book, create a rule regarding contacts with thecaller, etc. The computerized address book may be any kind of addressbook implemented on a computer including, for example, the MS OUTLOOKproduct available from MICROSOFT.

A field 1152 shown in field 1144 may provide the user with still moreadditional actions and information. Selecting field 1152 may displayfield 1153 including various sub-fields. For example, the user may dialan additional phone number by selecting one of sub-fields 1156, 1158,1160. This may allow the user to “conference” the new number into theexisting phone call. Referring back to FIG. 10, the user may terminatethe call at step 1016. The call may be terminated in any way. Forexample, the user may transfer the call to voicemail, place the call onhold, conference the call with another individual, and/or hang up.

For the process flow 1000, it is assumed that the caller's identity ispredetermined. Various embodiments of the invention, however, mayidentify the caller, for example, automatically or based on input fromthe user. FIG. 12 shows a process flow 1200 illustrating a process foridentifying a caller according to various embodiments. At step 1202, anincoming call may be received. At decision block 1204, it may bedetermined whether caller ID is available for the call. If caller ID isnot available, the user may be prompted to identify the call at box1206, for example, based on the caller's voice, or verbalself-identification.

FIG. 13A shows a screen shot of a window 1300 from a user interface thatmay be served to the user prompting the user to identify the caller. Invarious embodiments, the window 1300 may be presented to the user as ascreen pop. The user may activate button 1302 to select the caller froma list of potential contacts, for example, provided by a CRM database asdescribed in more detail below. In various embodiments, the list ofpotential contacts may be screened and/or organized based on entries ina computerized address book. If the caller cannot be identified, thecall may be terminated at block 1208 in any way, for example, asdescribed above with reference to block 1012 of process flow 100. If thecaller is identified, then the process flow may proceed to an identifiedcaller process flow at block 1220, such as process flow 1000 describedabove.

Referring back to FIG. 12, if caller ID is available, it may bedetermined whether the caller is an internal caller at decision block1210. For example, a caller who is also an employee of the firm may bean internal caller. If the caller is an internal caller, the processflow may proceed to an internal call procedure at step 1212. Theinternal call procedure may be determined by the firm. For example, thefirm may implement an internal call procedure similar to the identifiedcaller process flow 1000 shown in FIG. 10. In various embodiments, thefirm may not track internal calls at all. In one non-limitingembodiment, the firm may track some aspects of internal calls, but notto the extent of process flow 1000.

If it is determined at decision block 1210 that the caller is notinternal, the identity of the caller may be sought at decision block1214. For example, the caller's telephone number may be cross-referencedwith a list of potential callers and telephone numbers included in a CRMdatabase 514. In one non-limiting embodiment, the list of potentialcallers may be screened according to entries in the user's computerizedaddress book. If one match for the caller's number is found at block1214, then the process flow 1200 may proceed to the identified callerprocess flow at block 1220. If no match, or multiple matches, for thecaller's number are found at block 1214, then user may be prompted toidentify the caller's identity at block 1216.

When no matches are found, the user may be shown window 1300 of FIG. 13Aand invited to activate field 1302 to select the caller from a list ofpotential callers, for example, included in the CRM database 514. Invarious embodiments, the list of potential callers included in field1302 may be screened and or organized based on the user's computerizedaddress book. It will be appreciated that the caller may beunidentified, yet present in the database, for example, if the caller isnot calling from his or her normal telephone, e.g. a hotel phone, adifferent extension, etc. If multiple matches are found between thecaller's number and entries in the CRM database, then the user may beshown window 1301 of FIG. 4B. There may be multiple matches, forexample, if the caller's company broadcasts only one or a few trunknumbers on caller ID without displaying specific extensions. The usermay select the correct caller from the list shown in field 1308. Thecallers listed in field 1308 may, in one non-limiting embodiment, bescreened and/or organized based on the user's computerized address book.When the correct caller identity is selected, it may be recorded to thedatabase at step 1318. The process flow 1200 may then proceed to theidentified caller process flow at step 1220.

Various embodiments of the present invention may provide support for theuser's administrative assistant. For example, when the user receives acall, his or her administrative assistant may be able to view theidentity of the caller and some information regarding the caller and thecaller's company. The administrative assistant may also be able tomessage the user during a call. Also, if the user is away from his orher desk, the administrative assistant may be able to answer the calland prepare a message to the user including information about thecaller, etc.

FIG. 14 is a workflow diagram 1400 showing various events and the viewprovided to the user and the administrative assistant for each event.For example, column 1402 shows a listing of possible events during thecourse of a call. Column 1404 details the users view during each of theevents listed in column 1402 and column 1406 details the administrativeassistant's view during each of the events listed in column 1406. Theviews described in columns 1404 and 1406 may be presented to the userand administrative assistant according to any suitable method, forexample, as windows on a screen of a computer. In one non-limitingembodiment, the views may be presented as a screen pop.

At event 1408, an incoming call is received. As shown at boxes 1410 and1412, the user and administrative assistant both may be shown a windowindicating that a call is incoming and showing the caller's number, ifavailable. At box 1414, the administrative assistant may answer thetelephone call, for example, if the user is unavailable or is screeningcalls. The user may be shown a window indicating that the administrativeassistant has answered the call at box 1416, while the administrativeassistant may be shown a window indicating that he or she is in anactive call at box 1418. If the user answers the call, at box 1420, theuser may be shown an active call window at box 1422 while theadministrative assistant may be shown a window indicating that the useris on the call at box 1424.

At event 1426, the caller may be identified, for example, according toany of the methods described above. In various non-limiting embodiments,the caller's number may be automatically matched to a CRM database. Inother non-limiting embodiments, the caller may be identified by the userand/or the administrative assistant. When the caller is identified, theuser may be shown available data about the customer at box 1428. Forexample, the user may be shown any one of windows 1200, 1300, 1301, etc.At the same time, the user's administrative assistant may be providedwith similar call information at box 1430. The call information shown tothe administrative assistant may be less than all of the informationabout the caller and call shown to the user. For example, theadministrative assistant may only be shown the caller's name and basicinformation about the caller's company. In various non-limitingembodiments, however, the administrative assistant may be showninformation identical to the information shown to the user.

At event 1432, the call may be put on hold by either the user or theadministrative assistant. At that point, the user and the administrativeassistant both may be shown windows indicating that the call is on holdat boxes 1434 and 1436. At event 1438, the call may be conferenced bythe user. The user may see one or more windows, showing information forboth the original call and the new conference call at box 1440. Theadministrative assistant may be shown a window indicated that the useris on the call at box 1442. It will be appreciated that in variousembodiments, the administrative assistant may conference the call. Atevent 1444 the call may be terminated, for example, by hanging up,forwarding the caller to voicemail, transferring the call, etc. A screenpop, or windows, relating to the call then open on the user andadministrative assistant's desk may be closed at boxes 1446 and 1448.

FIG. 15 shows a process flow 1500 for allowing an administrativeassistant to answer a call according to various at embodiments. At box1502, an incoming call may be received. At box 1504, incoming callinformation may be provided to the user and administrative assistant,for example, as discussed with respect to event 1426 above. If the useranswers the phone at decision block 1506, then the process flow 1500 mayimplement a user-based identified caller process flow, for example, asshown above in FIG. 10. It will be appreciated that the administrativeassistant may be able to message call information to the user while theuser is on the call at box 1510. For example, the administrativeassistant may use an instant message to inform the user that he or shehas another call, a visitor, etc. The instant message may appear to theuser as a window, for example, as toast or a screen pop.

If the administrative assistant answers the call at decision box 1506,then the administrative assistant may be presented with a window, e.g.,a screen pop, for preparing a message for the user. The window mayinclude a template having fields listing the caller, the caller'scompany, the time of the call, and other information. One or more ofthese fields may be populated automatically. The window may also includeone or more fields for the administrative assistant to includeadditional comments. After the administrative assistant completes thetemplate window, it may be forwarded to the user. For example, thetemplate may be sent as an instant message. In another non-limitingembodiment, the template may be sent to the user via e-mail.

As used herein, a “computer” or “computer system” may be, for exampleand without limitation, either alone or in combination, a personalcomputer (PC), server-based computer, main frame, server, microcomputer,minicomputer, laptop, personal data assistant (PDA), cellular phone,pager, processor, including wireless and/or wireline varieties thereof,and/or any other computerized device capable of configuration forprocessing data for standalone application and/or over a networkedmedium or media. Computers and computer systems disclosed herein mayinclude operatively associated memory for storing certain softwareapplications used in obtaining, processing, storing and/or communicatingdata. It can be appreciated that such memory can be internal, external,remote or local with respect to its operatively associated computer orcomputer system. Memory may also include any means for storing softwareor other instructions including, for example and without limitation, ahard disk, an optical disk, floppy disk, ROM (read only memory), RAM(random access memory), PROM (programmable ROM), EEPROM (extendederasable PROM), and/or other like computer-readable media.

While several embodiments of the invention have been described, itshould be apparent that various modifications, alterations andadaptations to those embodiments may occur to persons skilled in the artwith the attainment of some or all of the advantages of the presentinvention. For example, the various modules described herein may bearranged in a different spatial configuration, or may be included inseparate interfaces according to various embodiments. It is thereforeintended to cover all such modifications, alterations and adaptationswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1. A user interface for providing information regarding a subjectcompany to a user, the user interface comprising: a company tilecomprising an indicator of the subject company, wherein a state of thecompany tile indicates a property of the subject company; a financialinformation module displaying financial information regarding thesubject company; a subject individual module displaying informationregarding a subject individual related to the subject company; and anavigation toolbar including a second company tile comprising anindicator of a second company, wherein selecting the second company tilecauses the second company to become a new subject company.
 2. The userinterface of claim 1, wherein the second company is related to thesubject company.
 3. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the secondcompany is at least one of the group consisting of, a subsidiary of thesubject company, a parent of the subject company, a strategic partner ofthe subject company, and a competitor of the subject company.
 4. Theuser interface of claim 1, wherein the second company is a previoussubject company of the user interface.
 5. The user interface of claim 1,wherein the second company tile indicates a property of the secondcompany.
 6. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the property of thesubject company comprises at least one property selected from the groupconsisting of a share price, a change in share price, a status of anearnings report for the subject company, a status of a research reportregarding the subject company, and a status of a news story regardingthe subject company.
 7. The user interface of claim 1, furthercomprising a calendar module including information regarding meetingswith at least one of the subject individual and another individualrelated to the subject company.
 8. The user interface of claim 1,wherein the subject individual is at least one of the group consistingof an employee of the subject company, a representative of the subjectcompany, and an analyst who reports on the subject company.
 9. The userinterface of claim 1, further comprising a subject individual navigationmodule comprising a plurality of names, wherein each name indicates anindividual related to the subject company, and wherein selecting one ofthe names causes the individual indicated by the name to become a newsubject individual.
 10. The user interface of claim 1, furthercomprising an analyst rating module, wherein the analyst rating moduleprovides a rating of the subject company.
 11. The user interface ofclaim 1, further comprising a deal track module, wherein the deal trackmodule provides information regarding pending deals of the subjectcompany.
 12. The user interface of claim 11, wherein the informationregarding pending deals comprises at least one of the group consistingof a deal description or name, a product phase, a size, and aprobability of completion.
 13. The user interface of claim 1, furthercomprising a relationship module, wherein the relationship modulegraphically displays a relationship between the subject individual and asecond individual related to the subject company.
 14. The user interfaceof claim 1, further comprising a second window, the second windowcomprising a plurality of company tiles, each of the plurality ofcompany tiles comprising an indicator of a corresponding company,wherein selecting one of the plurality of company tiles causes thecorresponding company to become a second new subject company.
 15. Theuser interface of claim 1, further comprising at least one alert window,wherein the alert window is configured to display when a predeterminedset of conditions are met.
 16. The user interface of claim 15, whereinthe alert window is configured to display on top of at least one moduleof the user interface.
 17. A method of providing information regarding asubject company to a user, the method comprising: providing a companytile to the user, the company tile comprising an indicator of thesubject company, wherein a state of the company tile indicates aproperty of the subject company; providing a financial informationmodule to the user, wherein the financial information module displaysfinancial information regarding the subject company; providing a subjectindividual module to the user, the subject individual module displayinginformation regarding a subject individual related to the subjectcompany; and providing a navigation toolbar to the user, the navigationtoolbar including a second company tile comprising an indicator of asecond company, wherein selecting the second company tile causes thesecond company to become a new subject company.